The plug-in hybrid is soaring, and the pure electric stamina is insufficient, and Volkswagen wants to invest 60 billion euros to develop the engine behind the deep reason

Hot micro-comments

2024-07-02 17:12Creators in the field of technology

The full text is 2161 words, and it takes about 7 minutes to read, so help me highlight the key points

Highlight the point

01 Domestic new energy vehicle sales data from January to May show that plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by 70.1% year-on-year, while pure electric vehicles increased by 17.5% year-on-year, and pure electric stamina is insufficient.

02Due to range anxiety, plug-in hybrid vehicles have become a major trend in the new energy vehicle market, and car companies such as Volkswagen and Toyota are making every effort to develop next-generation engines.

03Volkswagen plans to invest 60 billion euros in the development and production of next-generation internal combustion engines in the coming years to improve thermal efficiency and reduce emissions.

04At the same time, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and other Japanese car companies are also investing in internal combustion engine technology to explore the integration of internal combustion engine and electrification technology.

05 China's new energy vehicles are developing at a high speed, but the engine technology of fuel vehicles is also making breakthroughs, and Chinese car companies are still competitive in the hybrid era.

Technical support is provided by Tencent Hybrid Model

Text/Wang Xinxi

The core competitiveness of new energy vehicles is actually the fuel tank?

A few days ago, the passenger association announced the domestic sales data of new energy vehicles from January to May, of which the cumulative retail sales of pure electric vehicles were 1931676, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%, and the cumulative retail sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles (including range extenders) were 1324095, a year-on-year increase of 70.1%.

Judging from the data, the growth of plug-in power is soaring, and the lack of pure electric stamina may be a major concern in the development of new energy vehicles.

Behind the lack of pure electric stamina, there may still be battery life anxiety at work, there is a fuel tank, which can be refueled at any time, which may be an idea for Chinese people to buy a car to strive for insurance and safety. Judging from the current trend of new energy vehicles, before the arrival of real solid-state batteries, the proportion of plug-in hybrids will be higher and higher.

In particular, BYD's fifth-generation DM technology has greatly reduced fuel consumption, and fuel saving and money saving have been realized in the hybrid.

Therefore, the competition direction of new energy vehicles is concentrated in the engine field to a certain extent.

Because the better the plug-in mix sells, the more the engine sells. Although the core advantage of the electric car is that the driving performance of the electric motor is much higher than that of the engine, the plug-in hybrid is essentially a pure electric vehicle with a fuel tank on its back.

This trend of hybrid development may allow car companies with engine advantages in the field of gasoline vehicles to regain dividends.

We see that now Volkswagen, Toyota and other car companies are working hard to develop the next generation of engines. Volkswagen is planning to invest a total of 60 billion euros (about 467 billion yuan) in the development and production of next-generation internal combustion engines in the next few years. In an interview in Munich, Germany, Arno Antlitz, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Volkswagen Group, said, "Although the future belongs to electric vehicles, the past is not over, and the subsequent investment in internal combustion engines will remain at one-third of the total R&D expenditure." ”

The reason why Volkswagen has increased its R&D spending on internal combustion engines is ostensibly closely related to its huge market share of fuel vehicles, data shows that in 2023, the Volkswagen Group will deliver 9.24 million vehicles worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

But it may also be that Volkswagen sees the development of the hybrid market, and according to Volkswagen's plan, this investment will be used to improve the thermal efficiency and reduce emissions of internal combustion engines, while exploring the integration of internal combustion engines and electrification technologies.

Vigorously invest in the engine, one of which is to continue to strengthen the core technology advantages of the engine of fuel vehicles.

The second is that next-generation engines can be compatible with green alternative fuels, such as biofuels and synthetic fuels, to help decarbonize internal combustion engines. Last year, Europe originally planned to ban the sale of gasoline vehicles in 2035, but later withdrew the ban and collectively switched to new synthetic fuels.

The European Union and Japan have roughly the same route, except for the Volkswagen Group, as early as May this year, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda three Japanese car companies have said that they will continue to invest in internal combustion engine technology. It is necessary to make achievements in synthetic fuel vehicles, use new synthetic fuels to meet the goal of reducing carbon emissions of automobiles, and continue the life of internal combustion engine technology.

The third purpose may be to strengthen the advantages of engines in the hybrid market and establish new barriers for the hybrid era. Volkswagen has always prided itself on turbocharged engine technology, while Toyota is known for its gasoline-electric hybrid technology. Volkswagen's plan to fund this fund is also to explore the integration of internal combustion engines and electrification technologies.

Now Volkswagen's PHEV hybrid system is also constantly being iterated. In 2023, Volkswagen has introduced the new Volkswagen transverse engine modular platform developed on the 1.5T evo engine for its models in the Chinese market, which is the latest addition to the popular EA211 engine family, which meets the strict emission standards of China 6 RDE and has a maximum power of 118kW, a 7.3% increase compared to the previous 1.4T engine. It offers significant improvements in maximum torque range, technology, performance and fuel economy.

The engine uses the Miller cycle, which is a variant of the Atkinson cycle, which has not been paid attention to by OEMs in the past when the dynamic performance of the vehicle was emphasized, because a part of the mixture will be discharged through the intake valve during each compression stroke, and the energy generated during combustion will be relatively reduced, and the vehicle power will be lost. However, in the era of hybrid vehicles, the power loss caused by the Atkinson cycle has been effectively compensated for by the addition of drive motors.

In the end, any hybrid technology is the engine! For all power architectures composed of internal combustion engines, batteries, and motors, including large and small range extensions, the underlying support force is still the internal combustion engine if you want better technical performance.

One is better work efficiency, whether it is power generation efficiency or direct drive ability, a high thermal efficiency engine can bring a better experience and lower fuel consumption. Toyota has been popularizing the fifth-generation diesel-electric hybrid technology in the global market since this year, and the miniaturized and high-efficiency electric drive system coupled with the high-performance ternary lithium battery has achieved reduced fuel consumption and increased power.

This is why Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan and other manufacturers are investing in internal combustion engines, so that the internal combustion engine and electrification technology are combined to achieve the common development of various power forms.

With the combination of hybrid engine + electric drive system and high-performance battery, the fuel consumption of hybrid vehicles is declining, and the price of many models is cheaper than pure fuel vehicles. Even if you drive a gasoline car, it is more cost-effective than buying a gasoline car. In light use, you can also enjoy the driving experience of an electric car.

Therefore, in the hybrid era, the improvement of engine technology will bring better technical blessings to hybrid vehicles. The high-end cars that sell well now, such as the Wenjie M9 and Denza D9, are all hybrid cars with a large fuel tank.

Hybrid vehicles fight to the end, and start to fight the engine and fuel tank, is the new energy vehicle deviated, or the pure electric vehicle is still facing the reality of insufficient competitiveness? But in general, this momentum is providing sufficient reasons for Volkswagen, Toyota and other car companies to develop special engines suitable for fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles, and even bring a new round of engine dividends to traditional fuel vehicle giants.

Therefore, from the current point of view, the real new energy vehicles (pure electric) is likely to not be able to really dominate the market, the essence of the development of the hybrid market, the underlying technology is the compatibility of internal combustion engine and other technologies and electric technology. The higher the comprehensive thermal efficiency, the better the NVH of the internal combustion engine will be a core technical route to promote the development of hybrid technology, just like the two legs of people, not only the development of batteries, motors, internal combustion engine technology must also keep up, can not be wasted, internal combustion engine technology and electric technology to the fusion, or will become the mainstream for a long time in the future.

However, fortunately, China's new energy vehicles are developing at a high speed, but fuel vehicle technology, especially engine technology, is also making breakthroughs, and the thermal efficiency of China's engines is leveling the gap with Japanese engines, and Japan is also importing a large number of Chery engines. Therefore, in the hybrid era, Chinese car companies can still have the competitiveness that can be played.

However, the rebirth of the internal combustion engine has made the development of pure electric vehicles face many obstacles, and the biggest opponent of pure electric vehicles is not oil vehicles, but hybrid vehicles with large fuel tanks, focusing on the integration of engine performance and electric technology, and also flaunting new energy, which is the most terrible opponent of real new energy vehicles - pure electric vehicles. Whether this is good or bad is not yet to be judged, and time will finally tell.

Author: Wang Xinxi, Senior Reviewer of TMT This article is not reproduced without permission

View original image 1.62M

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•